It is known that a variety of microorganisms live and form microorganic flora in an intestinal tract of humans and animals. Such microorganisms are classified into harmful microorganisms that give harmful effects to the host, and beneficial microorganisms that give beneficial effects to the host. These microorganisms keep symbiotic or antagonistic relationship. The harmful microorganisms may be those which produce harmful products such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and amines to place an excessive burden on liver function, and those which relates to carcinogenesis. The harmful microorganisms may include genus Clostridium. 
Beneficial effects that are given to the host through improvement of intestinal flora may include a variety of effects that will lead to good intestinal environment which is necessary for the host to maintain a healthy life, such as (1) amelioration of gastrointestinal condition such as diarrhea or constipation, (2) prevention of cancer and improvement of infection resistivity through activation of immune system, and (3) suppression of metabolic production of, e.g. harmful enzymes, by the harmful microorganisms. Effective use of the microorganic flora for the health of the host is the idea of so-called probiotics.
There are some proposal for definition of probiotics, such as “a microorganism and a substance that give beneficial effect to a host through control of intestinal flora” (Parker, R. B: An. Nutr. Health, 29, 4-8 (1974)), “a live microorganism that gives beneficial effect to a host by improvement of balance of intestinal florae” (Fullar, R.: J. Appl. Bacteriol., 66, 365-378 (1989)), “a strain of or mix-cultured bacteria that give a beneficial effect to a host by amelioration of factors relating to balance of intestinal florae in the host” (Havenaar, R. and Huis in't Veld, J. H. J.: A general view, In The Lactic Acid Bacteria in Health and Disease/Wood, B. J. B. ed., pp.151-170 (1992) Elsevier, London), “live bacteria and substances promoting proliferation of such bacteria that give a beneficial effect to inherent flora of not only animals but also plants and foods” (Fullar, R.: Probiotics: Their Development and Use, In Old Herborn University Seminar Monograph 8/van der Waaij, D., Heidt, P. J. and Rush, V. C. eds., pp.1˜8 (1995) Institute for Microbiology and Biochemistry, Herborn-Dill) (see The Japanese Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics Vol.55 No.4 p167-177: 1997). In any case, a substance that is called probiotics has a function of relieving intestinal disorders.
It is reported that some of lactic acid bacteria have such probiotic properties. Specifically, it is known that some strains of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, various bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus gasseri have probiotic properties. More specifically, it is known that Lactobacillus plantarum 299DSM6596, Lactobacillus casei ssp. rhamnosus 271DSM6595 (Japanese Patent No. 2742962 B), Lactobacillus acidophilus PN-RI-2-4 (JP-P-H5-292947 A), Lactobacillus acidophilus F-133 (Japanese Patent No.3052208 B), bifidobacteria BB536, and Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain have probiotic properties.
Particularly, as to the lactic acid bacteria of genus Lactobacillus, L. acidophilus, L. agilis, L. aviarius, L. amylovorus, L. brevis, L. casei, L. crispatus, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, L. gallinarum, L. gasseri, L. johnsonii, L. murinus, L. hamsteri, L. intestinalis, L. plantarum, L. reuteri, L. ruminis, and L. salivarius are at present recognized as probiotics (probiotics A Critical Review: Gerald W. Tannock (1997) p47).
By the way, it is reported that (1) Lactobacillus helveticus has high proteolytic activity and thus has high peptide productivity, and (2) a Lactobacillus helveticus-fermented milk has an hypotensive effect (Japanese Patent No.3028411 B). Therefore, it is known that an extracellular product obtained by fermenting a milk with Lactobacillus helveticus may be used as lactic acid fermented milk material with suppressed lactic acid acidity (JP-P-H10-99018 A), stimulant for interferon production (JP-P-S57-1237 A), and lipid metabolism improver (JP-P-H10-229841 A). However, it is not known that the live bacterial cells of Lactobacillus helveticus may be administered to hosts such as humans for use as an agent for relieving intestinal disorders having a probiotic function.